It’s Beneath My Dignity | Rabbi Moshe Tuvia Lieff

Hashem has lofty and great expectations for us, not just to be honest and righteous and good, but to be holy. The expectation is that we are to be holy just as Hakadosh Baruch Hu is holy. And there's even a thought that we could mirror Hashem’s holiness. How does a person become holy? The Torah says I’ll be sanctified within the ranks of Klal Yisroel. Says R’ Isaac Sher, Rosh Yeshiva of Slabodka לא מתוך פרישות אלא מתוך חשיבות not by abstaining, but by elevating not by פרישות, but חשיבות becoming dignified. מתוך חשיבות means it's beneath my dignity. Everyone has a level of dignity. A Jew has to fly above the brambles, not to get snagged, but beneath the radar. I guarantee you, מו”ר Harav Elyashiv never tore into a pastrami sandwich or baby lamb chops. Not because it wasn't kosher. It was beneath his dignity! He is a greater person than that! He doesn’t link in Gashmeos. A fellow’s got 15 cowboy steaks on a silver tray and he's carrying them to the pit and one tray falls onto the ground into some mud. Hilchos rib steak, cowboy steak, you wash it off and you eat it, it’s organic mud. But let's say אל תפתח פה לשטן רחמנא ליצלן לא עלינו ולא עליכם that steak fell into a deposit that a dog made on your front yard. You throw it out! Wash it off, are you crazy? It's beneath my dignity. Every Yid has a level of dignity. Every Yid realizes that he has a certain standard to live up to. Vayimaen means that I have to control my thoughts, it's beneath my dignity. ונקדשתי בתוך בני ישראל I’m a member of the עם הקדוש! I’m a member of the עם הנבחר! I'm Ben Melech! It's simply beneath my dignity to allow my eyes to wander, my thoughts, my heart. I have to control my impulses, but more importantly, remember the nature of my essence, of my persona. I'm Choshuv! ונקדשתי בתוך בני ישראל לא מתוך פרישות אלא מתוך חשיבות Vayimaen highlights the need to preserve my dignity. There are things beneath my dignity. Let me live up to the standards that Hakadosh Baruch Hu invested me with, my נשמה, my קדושה. Be zoche to live a life of success, בגשם וברוח and create ריבוי כבוד שמיים.